Improved device for releasing standing rigging



waited getarnt aient Gemine.

Leaeee Patent Ne. 97,261, ezeeted Nee-eener 2s, 1ste.

IMPROVED DEVICE FOR RELEASVNG STANDING RIG-SING.

e The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and makingpart of thesame.

To whom it may concer-n 4Be it known that I, FREDERICK Wurm-AM, of thecity and county of- San Francisco, State of California, have inventedcert-ain new and useful, Improvements in` Standing Rigging for Vessels;and, I hereby declarethat the following is ,a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference 'being had to the aecompanying drawings,making part ofV this specification, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation,or brcadside view.

Figure 2, an end view.

Figure 3, a lplan view.

` Theletters of reference indicate the same. parts in the differentfigures.

My invention relates to securing shrouds, backstays, and other standingrigging, to the plates or to the sides of a vessel, in sueha mannerandby such devices that two or more may be disengaged or let gosimultaneously, or nearly so. It is peculiarly adapted to wire rigging,or to that composed in whole or in part of rods or chains, 'not easily1cut by an axe, or other ordinary means. It willalso befound useful, withthe ordinary hemp rigging, in many of the emergencies to which sea-goingvessels are liable.

The following is a description of my invention A is a horizontal bar,capable of longitudinal motion, through the agency of anyconvenientmechanical devices.

Bent arms, B, are attached to the bar A, at suitable distances, designedto act as bolts vor pins, bywhich the eyes C, at the lower ends of theshrouds,

are secured to the shackles D, formed upon the upper ends of the platesE.

The number of arms B correspond withthe numberof shrouds, or otherstanding rigging, which stand in the same vertical and horizontal plane,or which it may be desirable to render capable of being let gosimultaneously. 1n operation, the bolts or arms B, being imposition, asvshown in fig. 1, are simultaneously released, 'when required, bydrawing back the' bar A, and withdrawing all the bolts at, once.

The advantages of my invention will be apparent to sea-:taxing men. Asone instance ,of its usefulness and'value, suppose a mast carried awayby the parting of the weather-rigging, it becomes an urgent necessity.to get rid of the wreck before the side or counter ofthe ship is stovein; or', in the case of a steamship, the side-wheel or propeller-screwhopelessly fouled or injured, the application of my invention relievesthe shi p at once from this difculty and danger.

A vessel, thrown on her beam-ends by the force of the wind,'n1ay besaved from impending destructiomby being enabled to get rid'of one ormore of'her masts with facility, after the standing rigging has been letgo by my invention.

I do not coniine-myself to the use of any mechanical device forwithdrawing the-bolts which release the rigging; but e What I claim asmy invention,.and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination and arrangement of devices, as herein dcscribed,'or anyequivalent means, by which two or vmore shrouds, or other parts ofstanding rigging, can he sirmlltaneously released or let go,7 asspecified. y FRElmRl'CK WITTRAM.

